This illustration was part-two of the Washington Trails Magazine summer nature series. The wolverine is one of my absolute favorite subjects to draw, but definitely challenging to find references...it's not like I can just go out and photograph them:) But it was fun to piece together a bunch of fur/pose/and lighting ideas. Also it's super exciting that they're making a comeback in Washington! Such amazing creatures!!! As always, thanks to my editor, Eli Boschetto!

1. First I had to solve the dimensions problem. It needed to be tall and narrow to fit with the other illustrations in the series, so we decided to include mountains in the background, adding some height.

2. This pose was based on a far-away photo from one of the authors. The lighting, legs, and face were completely obscured in the photo so I did a lot of research to fill in the gaps. There are definitely some proportion issues with this initial draft:)

3. I'm happy with how the final wolverine illustration turned out. The mountains were a separate layer that I painted and added digitally to fade them way back.